Xenodruid
This wiki article is an excerpt from the Space Anonymous Alien Archives Before we start this entry of the archives, something must be clarified. Xenodruid actually refers to two different things; Users of the ancient, nature magic and the species of aliens credited as discovering it. Most users of this form of magic generally don’t call themselves Xenodruids or even have a proper name for it, so this name is for mostly for our own purposes. 'The Xenodruid Species' That being said, from now until specified later, Xenodruid will refer to the species of alien who discovered this nature magic. This section will cover what information we have managed to collect on the Xenodruid’s biology, history, and culture. Xenodruids are green humanoid aliens with a variety of features such as horns, fins, feathers, spines, etc. depending on the individual. Xenodruids are bigger and stronger than the average alien race, but overwhelmingly so. In matter of fact, Xenodruids actually don’t have any particular “powers” besides a natural intuition of the ecology around them. The nature magic they’re typically associated with isn’t actually exclusive to them and it’s possible for a Xenodruid to not know any nature magic at all, depending on their upbringing. However, Xenodruids have a natural affinity for magic and can learn their particular form of nature magic much easier than most. Their average lifespan tends to be around 1300 years old. The history of the Xenodruids is very much tied to their home planet. Their planet was incredibly diverse in the biomes present and each one was abundant with life. However, the planet was very poor in the resources that would be used for technological development. They could make basic tools no problem but more advanced technology like engines or radioes was completely out of their reach. Not having technology as an option, the Xenodruids looked to magic to advance their society. The Xenodruids were able to make great use of nature magic as they were surrounded by it, and they could use their magic to grow trees at tall as skyscrapers, mutate animals for specialized purposes, and manipulate the landscape itself to their will. After generations of practicing magic, the Xenodruids were the most advanced beings in their solar system. The Xenodruids decided that they could aid others around them and decided they needed to find a way to travel through space. To do so, the Xenodruids gathered together to call the legendary star animals to their planet. The star animals became heavily associated with the Xenodruids and they used the beasts to send missionaries to other worlds. These missionaries helped to greatly advance the progress of the visited planets. After a few more generations passed, the civilizations of the planets the Xenodruids once visited became capable of space travel. These civilizations viewed the space animals as a menace to their space exploration as they believed that they may unexpectedly take down their vessels. Furthermore, these civilizations were scared of the collective power of the Xenodruids as they had no knowledge that it was the Xenodruids that had helped bring life to their planet. As a result, these civilizations decided to hunt down the star animals as a way to both make space travel safer for them as well as limit the mobility of the Xenodruids. The Xenodruids realized that as long as they relied on the star animals, they were in danger. The star animals and any Xenodruids riding the star animals were told to scatter but even then a majority of the star animals did not manage to escape. Although there is no way to be certain, we estimate that there are about only five star animals left. As a result of this, all Xenodruids that were not already on other planets or traveling through space were locked to their planet. Xenodruid Magic From this point on, we will discuss the capabilities and customs of the nature magic of the Xenodruids. As such, from this point on Xenodruid will mostly refer to the practitioners of this type of magic, with special care to mention when Xenodruid(species) is being referred to. Xenodruid magic manipulates nature, but is also meant to serve it. For this reason, this magic has its own unique rules and customs. The most important aspect of Xenodruid magic is that it follows the principle of “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Xenodruid magic is not really meant to be used by the individual and is supposed to be used by a group of Xenodruids. The effect of Xenodruid magic is much, much stronger in a collective, and large enough groups (maybe ten thousand) could completely terraform an entire planet. Another aspect of Xenodruid magic is that it cannot be used oneself. Xenodruid magic is supposed to selfless and using it on oneself would be considered selfish, so it has no effect. The Xenodruid species did find a way to get around this however. At birth, a Xenodruid’s may parent put some of their lifeforce into a special mark on the baby. This mark allows Xenodruid’s to use magic on themselves just by thinking about it, as they are not technically using the magic on themselves, but the mark left by their parents is. This mark does not need to be given as a baby, although it is optimal if the individual is to learn how to utilize it. Furthermore, this marking, like nature magic in general, is not actually exclusive to the Xenodruid species, but can be transferred by any practitioner of Xenodruid magic. However, not too many other species know about this marking and those with it do not learn to use it as quickly. The final aspect of Xenodruid magic to take into consideration is that it is largely ritualistic in nature. Most Xenodruids must use their spells or abilities by drawing their spell’s symbol on or near their intended target, although some Xenodruids are gifted enough to use hand motions alone. This means that Xenodruid magic is not particularly great for combat, and if one is to use Xenodruid magic in combat, they better be able to draw quickly and accurately. ''' Xenodruid Powers * '''Mutation: Xenodruids are able to induce desired mutations on organisms. A single Xenodruid can make alterations to an organism like gifting them claws, gills, poison, or a small all-around boost in power or other similar things. A few Xenodruids together can create wilder body mutations like extra limbs, exoskeletons, new organs, etc. Enough of them together can mutate an organism completely, able to turn them into a different species (like polymorphing) or make them into something new entirely. With enough users, this power can induce millions of years worth of evolution in less than 24 hours. * Growth: Xenodruids are able to induce or revert growth in organisms, most often used on plants and plant-like organisms for a variety of purposes, although it can be used on just about any living thing. A single Xenodruid can use this to age or de-age the target a few years or induce peak physical form. Xenodruids can actually grow organisms past their natural limits depending on how many there are. * Healing: Xenodruids are adept healers. A single Xenodruid can greatly accelerate an organisms natural healing process as a sort of sub-power of Growth. However, beyond that, slightly different magic is needed. A single Xenodruid could regenerate something like an organisms lost limb, but it would require month(s) of daily healing sessions. A single Xenodruid could also slow down the effects of a fatal injury with concentration, but have no way to reverse it. Like all Xenodruid powers, their healing is much stronger when done as a group, but still with limits. For example, Xenodruids are not able to regenerate an organism from a single cell, enough of the body needs to be intact and it would need to be the “main” part of the body too, so even a group of Xenodruids would not be able to regenerate an organism from a severed leg, unless that thing was capable of doing that already. A group of Xenodruids could also reverse an otherwise fatal injury as long as that thing is still living, but absolutely no amount of Xenodruids can reverse death. * Purification: Xenodruids have the ability the purify objects, organisms, and the environment. A single Xenodruid could, for example, break down poison in drink or food (if the poison had organic origins and wasn’t manufactured), cure weak enough diseases, and undo the effects of pollution in air, land, or sea* around them. This power also includes the ability to make the environment more habitable, such as making soil more fertile, adjusting the composition of the atmosphere, and regulating the pH balance of the sea.More Xenodruids can affect a much larger area and to a greater extent. * Nature Manipulation: Xenodruids have the potential to manipulate up to three aspects of the natural, inorganic world; The atmosphere, the earth, and the sea. Generally, a single Xenodruid only has control of one of these aspects, although some have control of more and some don’t have control of any. ** Earth Manipulation: Xenodruidic earth manipulation is generally pretty similar to Earthbending or other similar powers. However, Xenodruids must be on the ground to use this power and the earth they manipulate must still be connected to the ground as well, meaning that they cannot levitate boulders or anything similar. A single Xenodruid has earth manipulation is basic, limited to basic shapes and relatively small sizes. A big enough group of Xenodruids could create mountains, move continents, and cause earthquakes. ** Sea Manipulation: Xenodruidic sea manipulation is once again pretty similar to Waterbending or other similar powers. A single Xenodruid has only limited control over water and needs rain or body of water/ice as a source. Multiple Xenodruids pooling their power together can create mighty whirlpools or tsunamis, control water with enough force to erode through most natural formations, and actually generate water as long as they have a source. ** Atmosphere Manipulation: For a single Xenodruid, atmosphere manipulation wouldn’t be too different from basic Airbending. However, they’d also have the ability to create clouds/fog for cover or precipitation over a small area, manipulate air pressure, or raise or increase the local temperature. However, when enough Xenodruids team up they have the power to create storms, tornadoes or lightning - potentially on a planetary scale. * “Spirit” Summoning: Xenodruids cannot summon actual living things to them. However, Xenodruids can summon spirit versions of particular organisms. To do so, a Xenodruid must invoke the species they are attempting to summon by writing the name of the species in the Xenodruidic language. These species names can be taught from one Xenodruid to another. These names can also be learned in a special ritual that involves the Xenodruid marking it’s own name on the organism whose species name it wants to learn. Once these prerequisites are met, a spirit form of the organism can be summoned, although maintaining their presence requires concentration, so they’re not just like pets. Most people can’t interact with these spirits although the spirits can interact with them to varying extents. For example, an elephant-like spirit probably has a physical impact on the world, whereas a snake-like spirit may be more ethereal and poison those it comes into contact with. The entire animal doesn’t need to be summoned, the user can choose to only summon part of the animal like a mouth or tail. * Spirit Bonding: A somewhat more advanced form of Spirit Summoning, a Xenodruid can link their spirit to an organism such that they can call upon aspects of that organism’s power for themselves. For example, one could link themselves to a gorilla’s spirit to for increased strength or a bat’s spirit for the power of echolocation. A Xenodruid can typically have only one spirit bond, having two is not impossible but incredibly rare. These spirit bonds link the two lives together such that if one of them dies, the other does as well. For this reason, Spirit Bonds are not done lightly, as the organism in question must be “worth” risking one’s own life for and the user must be confident enough in their ability to protect themselves. Considering most Xenodruids tend to care more about nature than themselves, they have found a way to cheat the system by moving the spirit bond to Xenodruid when near death. In addition to being able to channel powers from the bonded creature, the two linked beings can communicate telepathically across infinite distances, feel the location and health of the other, and through concentration can see/hear/sense what the other one senses. *:Sea used here means water a majority of the time. HOWEVER, some planets do not have bodies of water and instead have bodies made of some other liquid. In this case the Xenodruid’s power depends on the ecology of where they are. For example, a Xenodruid on a volcanic planet with life-forms living in lava lakes, could manipulate lava on that planet but would not be able to do so on Earth.